Now is the time for some hot chocolate because an incoming cold front
will keep temperatures low at

least until
Wednesday, said the nation's weather bureau.

Wind chill will become especially strong in

Guanacaste and in the
Central Valley, after a cold front enters Central America from the Gulf
of
Mexico. Northerly winds in Guanacaste may blow as hard as 13 to 18
knots, or 24 to 39 kph.

Surfers may rejoice to learn that waves may become as high as 7.5 feet,
or 2.29 meters.
Northern Costa Rica and the Caribbean coast,

meanwhile, will be
affected by light to moderate rains rather than increased winds.

The chill will strike San José the hardest, forecasts say. San
José may
see temperatures drop to 14 degrees C. or 57.2 degrees F. tonight and
Tuesday night, along with rising wind pressure and decreased chances of
rain. Alajuela may also become as cold as 15 degrees C. or 59 degrees
F. today, with nightly temperatures of 13 degrees C. or 55.4 degrees F.
in Cartago, said the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional.

Extended forecasts predict the cold spell will break after Wednesday,
although it is also possible that the chilly nights in San José
could
continue into the weekend.

Costa Rican officials all excited by Chinese visit

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

What is just a tropical layover for the president of China has become a
defining moment for Costa Rica.

The president, Hu Jintao, landed with his entourage about 3:30
p.m. Sunday and was greeted with tight security and smiling Costa Rican
officials. There also was a delegation from the local Chinese
community. Hu was accompanied by his wife, Liu Yongqing, and
government and Communist Party officials.

Hu arrived in Costa Rica from the Group of 20 summit on the current
international financial crisis in Washington, D.C, with a
stopover at long-time ally Cuba. He is headed to the Asia-Pacific
Cooperation Organization in Lima, Peru, and also has planned a state
visit to Greece.

The Chinese president was met at Juan Santamaría airport by a
delegation headed by Bruno Stagno. Costa Rican officials are proposing
a free trade treaty with China in the hopes of expanding their options
in the world market. China is mainly interested in raw materials for
its growing industrial sector, although the country has suffered
economic reverses due to the current world economic contraction.

There was nothing official on the schedule Sunday. Hu met with local
Chinese leaders at the Intercontinental Hotel in Escazú. Today
he meets with President Óscar Arias Sánchez to formalize
a number of agreements, including China's gift of a new soccer stadium
in Parque La Sabana. The old stadium, built in the early 40s already
has been demolished except for the original main gate.

From 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. today the Autopista

Ministerio de Relaciones
Exterioresy Culto photo by Miguel Diaz

Hu Jintao greets Bruno Stagno

Próspero Fernández and the entire Circunvalación
will be closed to Zapote where Casa Presidencial is located. The
Chinese president will be traveling there to meet with Arias. Then from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Avenida 2 and Paseo Colón will be closed.

Later, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. the autopistas General Cañas and
Bernardo
Soto will be closed to traffic to Juan Santamaría airport while
the
Chinese president travels there to leave.

Some schools are not in session today due to the visit. Arias canceled
work for many public employees today with the claim that this would
reduce traffic in the city core. However, a spokesperson for the
Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería in La
Uruca said it would
function normally,

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Health officials are continuing to investigate the causes of an illness
that swept through the 1,500 person workforce at the Hotel Riu at Playa
de Matapalo, Guanacaste.

One worker died of still unknown reasons, and some 200 have complained
of fever and other symptoms. Local and national health officials
are investigating.

The gigantic project has a six-story main building and a total of 701
guest rooms. It is just 33 kms or 20.5 miles from the Daniel Oduber
airport in Liberia. The five-star resort is scheduled to open next
year. Most of the employees there are Nicaraguans who live at the site.

Window breaking suspected
for third time in Hatillo

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The third time is a charm, policemen in Hatillo hope.

Friday they arrested for the third time a man suspected of robbing
motorists by breaking a vehicle window and taking what is available to
his reach inside.

The man, 19, has the last names of Madrigal Femenias. The man was
arrested for the second time Wednesday when police said they saw him
trying to break the window of a vehicle driven by a female motorist.
They arrested him and turned him over to the Ministerio Público
for processing. That is the prosecutor's office.

It appears that Madrigal appeared before a judge who set him free
again. So police spotted him again about 4:50 p.m. on the
Circunvalación highway in Hatillo 5. They said he again was
trying to rob from a vehicle by breaking the window. There are
several stop lights on that main highway in Hatillo, so it has become a
mecca for those robbers police call quiebravidrios or window
breakers.

Maritime zone seminar
planned for Tuesday

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Contraloría de la República plans a seminar Tuesday
on the country's maritime zone and the challenges in maintaining it.

The maritime zone is that area 200 meters from mean high tide at
oceans and rivers. The first 50 meters is reserved for the use of the
public. The remaining 150 meters can be leased in concessions to
private developers or homeowners..
The Contraloría has been the principal agency in forcing
municipalities to clear the public zone of commercial structures. Some
of the decisions have been controversial.

Representatives of different agencies have been invited to the seminar,
the Contraloría said. The session will be opened by Francisco
Antonio Pacheco, who will be interim president of the country while
Óscar Arias Sánchez is in New York at the United Nations.
The seminar will be at the Centro Nacional de Alta
Tecnología in Rohrmoser starting at 8 a.m.

La Uruca is location
for expats to get licenses

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Foreigners seeking a Costa Rican driver's license can only apply at the
transport ministry in La Uruca in northern San José. The office
used to be based in Plaza Víquez, but in August 2007 was moved.

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes said that
foreigners who already have a valid driver's license in their native
country need not fear the application process in Costa Rica. Tourists
can use their U.S. or European license for up to three months, except
for driver's licenses obtained in Colombia or Central America, which
are valid for only one month, it said in a release.

After this time has expired, it is necessary to request a license
through the motor vehicles office in La Uruca. Tourists must present
copies of a valid passport, entry visa and driver's license from his or
her country. While Costa Ricans may apply for their licenses in banks,
foreigners are required to apply in La Uruca.

Applicants have to take a medical exam that checks for eyesight or
heart problems in advance of getting the license. This may cost up to
6,000 colons (about $11), and there now are doctors' offices in La
Uruca which conduct such exams specifically for the driver's license
application, said the ministry. Applicants must provide
information about blood type, too.

Real estate brokers will be considering the state of the market Tuesday
in a trade meeting in the Hotel San José Palacio.

The group is the Cámara Costarricense de Corredores de
Bienes Raíces, the 34-year-old association of real estate
brokers and others in the field.

For brokers and others like appraisers and notaries, the market has
turned 180 degrees in the last six months. A number of notaries who
made substantial income by receiving a percentage of each real estate
deal they handled are now seeking other types of legal work, according
to information mostly from the Pacific coasts.

A number of major condo projects, mostly in the beach communities, have
been halted due to lack of customers.

Many projects here are constructed with the upfront down payment
provided by buyers, so when that cash flow slows, so does the project.

So far there have been few complaints from those who have given money
to developers of projects that might never well be finished. However,
such complaints are inevitable given the lack of true trust accounts in
Costa Rica where a buyer's money could be protected.

In addition to the scarcity of purchasers for luxury projects,
developers also are facing a lack of credit. Even in cases where credit
was promised and even signed for, some banks are backing down. The
Óscar Arias administration is trying to increase the liquidity
of two state banks with infusions of $50 million each, but that measure
still is in the legislature.

The credit problem is compounded because some projects are worth less
today than when the financing was arranged.

Value is a function of cash flow,
as a letter writer explains today,
and a decrease in anticipated rents means a lower project value and
less willingness for the bank to lend money.

Despite the gloom over the real estate and legal professions, A.M.
Costa Rica classified advertisers seem to be moving property. These
mostly are individuals with one or two properties to sell. A handful of
such deals have been made in the last two weeks, according to e-mails
from classified customers. Most say they have received about what they
were asking as a sales price.

That information jibes with other reports of sophisticated investors
quietly making deals during what they consider to be the bottom of the
market.

When the real estate brokers meet Tuesday, they will have some experts
as speakers.

A 9 a.m. talk by Jaime Ubilla Carro, chief executive officer of
Improsa Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversion, will start the
discussion. At 10 a.m. a representative of the Cámara
Costarricense de
la Construcción will address what is being called a crisis.

Those who attend will concentrate on these topics in round table
discussions that follow.

At 2 p.m. Manfred Pino, a local lawyer who is an agent for Chicago
Title Co., will discuss ways to lessen the impact of the real estate
crisis.

Chamber members also will discuss a proposed law to require licensing
in the real estate field and to regulate real estate sales contracts.

Readers present different
opinions on immigration redraft

Immigration reform
simply will not pass

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I understand that many expats fear the passage of a new immigration law
in Costa Rica but think that they are jumping the gun thinking that
this will ever pass. Costa Rica has a long history of coming up with
ideas that never come to fruition.

Also the motive may be to propose a extremely high income level so that
they can come to an agreement for a lesser amount which is what has
happened in the past. That way both sides feel like they are getting
what they want. I still think that this will go nowhere prior to Arias
finally leaving office and after that, it is a dead deal. I honestly
see no way that this bill will pass and think that expats are generally
over reacting.

Best thing for them to do is to petition and write letters to let the
legislators know how they feel about this issue. Also to have Tico
businesses that profit from expats to join in the petition. Make as
much noise as possible and stall this for as long as can be done.

Eventually it will not pass particularly since they don’t have someone
poking them to get it done like they did with CAFTA. Costa Rica has
made many very bad decisions in the past few years which are going to
cause the country to suffer down the road. The only hope is that they
will not continue to make poor decisions and that with new leadership
that things will get better. Sometimes the red tape in Costa Rica can
work to our advantage. I think this is one of those cases. Just my dos
colones

John Rabb
Florida

Panamá was better deal
than living in Ojochal

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I have been a perpetual Tourist in Costa Rica for several years. I did
all the work to get my pensionado
using the Association of Residents of Costa Rica, and all was approved
(2004). I lived in the town of Ojochal, which is four to five hours
away from San José.

I received my notification to come and sign the final paperwork on the
night before I was to be in San José. I would have been driving
at night and did not feel comfortable doing that so I called and asked
for a reschedule of coming in to sign up and pay the NEW $300 fee that
I had not been informed of by ARCR.

They never were able to reschedule so I decided to remain as a
perpetual tourist. I just drove to the border and went to Panama for 72
hours as a short holiday. This is how I learned that living in Costa
Rica is a pretty expensive place and that they really do not want the
"not so rich" foreigner living in Costa Rica.

As a result of Costa Rica NOT wanting the Gringo, I have now moved my
primary residence to Panama. I am now about 75 kms from the border,
living on a beach (for less money than I was able to live on in
Ojochal) and am still able to spend all the time I wish in Costa Rica
to enjoy the more beautiful mountains and better wildlife than
available in Panama. There is no problem going back and forth through
the border.

Panama wants us. We get a 20-year exemption on all house taxes, we get
a 20 percent discount on meals and prescriptions and
transportation (taxi and bus), we get 50 percent discounts on things
like entertainment (like movies). Purchasing property is as risky as it
is in Costa Rica and getting titled land is pretty tricky, just like
Costa Rica, but it is quicker. It took me 23 days to get my pensionado,
and it only cost $800 (I am using my Social Security as my guaranteed
income).

Cost of food is about the same as Costa Rica. Gasoline prices are now
down to $2.47 (less for diesel). They follow the U.S.A. pricing plus
about $0.40 and it is adjusted once a week. Theft is a problem here
also, but there does not seem to be as much violence. Cars are a LOT
cheaper to purchase here.

I would still like to live in Costa Rica - but they don't want me.

Frank Yates
Playa Barqueta, Panama,
and Ojochal, Costa Rica

Costa Rica written off
as retiree destination

Dear AM Costa Rica:

For the past 10 months I have been following and studying as many Costa
Rica laws as possible in order to make the best informed decisions
necessary for relocating in my retirement years.

In that 10-month period I have unearthed enough laws that could have a
direct influence on the degree of quality of life I am seeking for
myself. Without getting into laws most people would not care about, I
will say Mr. Vallancourt's recent comments to
A.M. Costa Rica to sum it up well.

The recent financial situations here alone is the U.S. are bad enough.
I have had 25 years worth of work wiped out, and will have a tough time
making any kind of decent recovery. I have for the past five years
researched many countries and their attitudes and incentives for
attracting foreign retires, as well as over all quality of life.

Many countries have in place very strict requirements to enter their
county and other do not, and rightfully so. Some, like the U.S. offer a
very good quality of life and often those requirements are set high for
entry. Some only allow investors that will produce quality jobs for
their own citizens, and have age limitations as well, unless you enter
as a result through marriage to that country's born citizen for the
most part.

Costa Rica, although a wonderful place, simply doesn't offer as high a
quality of life as it thinks it does. I will be in Costa Rica shortly
for the first time, but have already even before these most recent
restrictions rerouted my time, money and resources to their close
neighbor. Where I will spend the majority of my vacation and research
time.

I have seen versions of Costa Rica's pressure to overtax those who have
the best ability to the much needed income to an area many times. Even
from U.S. county to another. It doesn't work. It just simply starts to
strangle the very income flow they were hoping to gain from these ill
sighted laws.

One reader made a comment on a Costa Rican having a hard time getting
to the U.S. Well, first the U.S. has a high quality of life for many
reasons, The reader didn't state if the Costa Rican had income or not
to add to the U.S. economy or had enough that the person wasn't a
threat to it. Meaning they had enough reasons and money of their own to
want or show a good reason to return to their own county once they have
visited. If the person was entering under a fiancée visa or not.
All though things have a factor on one's visit to the U.S.

It's a big world out there, and I, myself, have written off Costa Rica
as a retirement destination. Heck I can stay in the U.S. and live very
well on what Costa Rica now demands for entry. There are just too many
NICE places to live than in Costa Rica.

Brian Conaway

Constant pressures caused
this nomad to leave

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I lived in Costa Rica for seven years then moved to Hawaii three years
ago. In the beginning Costa Rica seemed like the paradise I’d
been searching for all my life. In all fairness to Costa Rica, I
confess to being a nomad. I fall in love with places but when the
honeymoon is over I look for greener pastures.

For those of you who complain of the government’s proposed increase in
income requirements, I understand your frustration. It could be
that final straw that causes you to leave the country.

In a letter written
by Mark Vallencourt he stated that, "...a Tico hates all foreigners
...". I strongly disagree. That is not my experience.
I think Ticos genuinely like foreigners, especially Americans. I
am treated very well there. After all, there’s lots to dislike
about us (. . . Bush, for one).

I read A.M. Costa Rica on Fridays because I love Jo Stuart’s
column. She understands the country, lives modestly, and sees the
charm and simplicity of the Ticos.

Besides my nomadic nature which influenced my departure, I tried to
live and work within their system. The constant driving, dealing
with lawyers, bureaucracy, etc., etc., wore me out. I was
becoming one of those angry Gringos that I dislike (I always
said: If you don’t like Costa Rica, then leave). Jo Stuart
enjoys Costa Rica. She wanders around the city, finds a small
café, interacts with Ticos and seems to know how to make it
work. This is true for most of the Gringos that I know who live
there.

I visit Costa Rica from time to time. It works best for me being
a visitor.

Roland Shanklin

More taxation
measures
are sure to follow

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

The Arias administration, in May 2006 said that the most pressing
priority after CAFTA is a new fiscal plan. There is no surprise that
(a) immigration requirements will become stiffened, (b) real estate
taxes will double in some cases and (c) whenever possible property will
be re-evaluated to reflect current value.

More to come is a worldwide tax, similar to that of the U.S., the $15
inbound tourist tax and a financial transaction tax which would cover
everything from ATM withdrawals to paying bills. All of these concepts
have been and are being considered. There is no secret.

For many years now the typical expat has not been welcome in Costa Rica
but rather tolerated, be she/he from Colombia, Venezuela or Ohio. All
former economic incentives have been gradually and now totally
extinguished.

This administration, more than all others is active in practicing the
gentrification of Costa Rica. It offers no assistance to small
enterprise, retirees nor limited investments. To counter the marriage
of convenience game, residency will now require three years of marriage
and much like the days of the conquistadors, "proof of consummation." I
guess that means flying the nuptial sheet off the balcony again? Costa
Rica has evolved into the elephant hunter, not a trapper of rabbits.
(The only problem with that is if you do not bag an elephant, the whole
village starves.)

If the expat has wealth and willing to leave some of that here,
"bienvenido." The more money brought to the table, the bigger the
welcome to Costa Rica fruit basket will be. If you are a dude surfer,
great advertising, keep up the good work and get out of the country
every 90 days and come back with a new visa. You are an attraction and
not very expensive to support albeit you will now have to buy into the
national health insurance system and if you do not carry the card —
toast. If you are retired and just want to live a normal life,
perhaps
buy a home, car, eat out once in awhile and watch the toucans, no
"pura vida" for you anymore. You gotta go to Panama for your in-room
tropical fruit basket.

The country knows that good income can be had from tourism which is why
the proposed immigration bill will permit a 180 day stay with a $100
visa payment instead of the now 90-day limit. This appeals to the
snowbird and should make real estate agents pleased. The country focus
is on tourists, wealthy tourists if possible, not retirees who served
their purpose similar to how Taiwan did for more than 40 years and then
got dumped for China.

There are still reasons to not sell out and run or even stay away. The
foremost is expats get a great U.S. tax break followed by year-around
"warm" outside.

John Holtz
Santa Ana

Immigration publicity already
caused substantial damage

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

While I personally do not believe that the bill for immigration
"reform" or "change" will pass (pensionados and expats minimum
requirements being substantially raised), I also believe that this
shortsightedness have already caused substantial damage.

My business is real estate and development, and I estimate that at
least 25 people have said that they are taking their business and
retirement plans elsewhere. While this may only represent a tiny
portion of this country's revenues, in light of the economic problems
that the world is facing, can Costa Rica afford to lose even that small
amount? And by the way, 25 people buying homes or land
here,
investing, and ultimately living here and probably each spending $2,000
plus per month adds up to a pretty penny. That amount is now
irrevocably gone.

Whether of not I believe that the proposal will pass is
moot. The
damage has been done and potential retirees are viewing even the
thought and publicity of such a proposal as enough to say " no" to
Costa Rica.

I am not a citizen here and have no right to criticize the government
if they really choose to discard literally hundreds of millions of
dollars of revenue per year. I guess the question is "why?"

We often have a saying here that is "it is what it is," and only the
future will determine if my opinion or that of A.M. Costa Rica's is
right. But, if this administration truly wants to retain
American and
Canadian dollars, they should perhaps hire a qualified PR firm and
consider the impact of their publicity and statements first.

Randy Berg
San Miguel de Grecia

Drop in investment value
is more than rent cuts

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Experienced real estate appraisers use a variety of methods like
replacement cost, discounted cash flow analysis, insurable value, value
in use, and even liquidation value. What we are seeing now is a
growing trend of North American buyers who made initial deposits on
condo projects at the beaches which looked like great deals a year ago
now trying to find a way to back out of the final payments as the
projects are ready to be delivered.

The projections of rental income for these mega beach managed complexes
were based on what is referred to as rack rates or full charge, since
most of the industry gives discounts to travel agents, real estate
agents which are the real net rates. Typically in Costa Rica
these
have amounted to discounts from 10 percent to 25percent. Thus
when
these rates either rack or net decrease by a large amount, the
values
tend to decrease by a larger percentage than the decrease in
rates.
Why? Because of the same psychological fear in the stock
market.
Buyers dry up and the market spreads between offering prices and sales
prices widen just like the spreads in the fixed income market.

A simple example of this is a condo in the Gringo market that rented
for $1,000 a month and now sits vacant due to the downturn in tourism
or interest from persons looking to relocate. We have advised our
clients to address the realities of the market place and lower the rent
instead of having vacant properties. Lately we have seen
decreases
that are needed to create occupancy in the 20 percent range. Thus
using accepted cash flow analysis the property decreases in value 20
percent.

However there are other factors which must be understood.
Maintenance
does not decrease. Thus it becomes a larger percentage of the net rates
or rents achieved. Same for insurance and property tax. Using the
example of $1,000 a month with maintenance of $124 with rent now
at
$800 the maintenance is now 15.5 percent not 12.4 percent. Thus the
decreased value is more than 20 percent.

This is like a virus which spreads thru the marketplace and the U. S.
banking system became a victim of this virus. Why does the
government
of Costa Rica now want to create the same type virus by making it
difficult to attract retirees and rentistas to come to Costa
Rica.
Panama is certainly doing exactly the opposite, and Costa Rica will
suffer if our policy does not change quickly. Uncertainty
is not good
for any market.

We are on the board or what is referred to as junta directiva of
several condo projects here in the Central Valley. We are
investors,
but our business is also economic analysis and appraisals, and we even
act as administrators for our friends. After years of doing the
research and watching the markets and trying to make sure the
administrations of condo projects work efficiently, we hope the
government will wake up and encourage new arrivals.

I have read the letters sent you about the change in the requirements
to live here and absolutely do believe that the proposed ones are way
to high. However, the present ones are too low.

I do wonder where you can get a maid for $1 an hour. We pay our
maid
and good repair workers $2.50 an hour and even added workmen's
compensation for my maid.

We have found most Ticos very helpful and friendly although we know
there are exceptions and have enjoyed our life here. Twenty years
go
we found that there were many pensionados who really took advantage of
this country and its people, and they caused a bad feeling for expats.

We came initially for my health which has benefited greatly and now in
our 80s we have no desire to ever leave if at all possible.

Lucy Gucofski
Escazú

New e-mail opposing bill now
addresses changes for existing residents

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Javier Zavaleta, a residency consultant in Los Angeles, has edited and
amplified a proposed text of an e-mail in Spanish that can be sent to
members of a legislative committee studying the redrafted immigrations
bill. E-mail addresses are at the end.

The letter opposes the current draft and suggests smaller increases in
the financial responsibility that new residents must show.

Zavaleta added a paragraph that draws attention to the article in the
bill that would seem to require current rentistas and pensionados
to meet the new, higher requirements at the end of their current period
of residency. He called the proposal unjust and immoral. He
suggests that all should be subject to the rules at the time they first
obtained residency.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev travels to Venezuela later this
month. The trip coincides with joint Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises
in the Caribbean Sea and underscores not only growing ties between
Russia and Venezuela but Moscow's broader policy to expand its
influence in the Western Hemisphere.

A Russian flotilla, including the nuclear-powered warship "Peter the
Great," is on its way to naval exercises in the Caribbean with
Venezuela.

The Russian naval presence revives memories of the Cold War standoff
between the U.S. and Russia during the Cuba missile crisis.

Michael Shifter is a Latin America expert with the Inter-American
Dialogue in Washington. He says Russia's move is a geopolitical
response to U.S. support for Georgia during Moscow's August incursion.

"I think it has a lot to do with retaliating for what the U.S. reaction
was to the Georgia crisis and the naval forays in the Black Sea,"
Shifter said. "And I think Russia is showing it's also a player in this
hemisphere."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has been courting Russia,
visiting Moscow over the years to sign various agreements, including
weapons purchases.

Russian fighter jets have been sold to Venezuela, and Caracas has
bought 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles for its military.

Chávez is scornful of U.S. concerns over the arms sales and the
upcoming joint maneuvers. "Already the speculation has started,"
Chávez said. "It's the voices of the Yankees, saying that secret
bases will be set up where the Russians will put atomic bombs."

But if the exercises and the
publicity surrounding them worry the U.S.
State Department, Thomas Shannon, an assistant secretary with broad
knowledge of Latin America, showed little concern.

"This is Russia, not the Soviet Union," Shannon said. "In other words,
they don't have an ideological agenda. This is driven by short-term
politics and economics, especially the sale of weapons. It's something
we're watching closely, but not something we're watching with great
worry at this point."

Russia's growing ties with Venezuela and the planned naval maneuvers
should be of no concern to anyone, said Sergei Ryabkov, deputy Russian
foreign minister

"It looks like everyone has been accustomed for a long time to our
warships being in naval bases and our warplanes in hangars, and
thinking it will be like that forever," Ryabkov said.

Besides courting Venezuela, Russian officials are expanding ties with
Bolivia and other Latin American countries.

The focus is mainly economic, like an agreement to invest in Bolivia's
natural gas fields, for example.

But Russia's expanding influence in Latin America might pose a problem
for Washington, said Latin America expert Shifter. "It may help Latin
America, it expands Latin America's economic opportunities, diversifies
its relationships," Shifter said. "I think that's healthy. The problem
becomes when there's a deterioration of U.S.-Russian relations and then
there are maneuvers closer to the United States and then it becomes a
greater concern that the United States has to deal with."

The exercises will coincide with a visit by Medvedev to Caracas, where
he will meet with President Chavez. The
visit is expected later this month.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has cast doubt on whether a new
president in the United States will change the country's policies.

In an essay posted online Friday, the ailing former leader did not
mention president-elect Barack Obama by name. But in an apparent
reference to the Democrat, he said it is "naive" to think the "good
intentions" of one "smart person" could change what he called "the
result of centuries of selfishness."

Castro said contempt for incumbent President George Bush has caused
illusions in some people that the United States will be more tolerant
and less hostile when a new leader takes office.

Before the election, Castro praised
Mr. Obama in the state-run "Granma"
newspaper, calling him more intelligent and level-headed than his
Republican rival, John McCain.

Since Obama's victory, the 82-year-old former leader and his younger
brother, Cuba's current president, Raul Castro, have not directly
commented on the new president-elect.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba for almost half-a-century. He formally ceded
power to his brother in February after giving up the post on a
provisional basis following intestinal surgery in 2006.

Mr. Castro has not been seen in public since the surgery, essays
on
international issues that are attributed to him appear frequently. Most
of them appear in the state-run newspaper.

Each day someone complains via e-mail that the
newspages are from
yesterday or the day before. A.M. Costa Rica staffers check every page
and every link when the newspaper is made available at 2 a.m. each
week day.

So the problem is with the browser in each reader's computer.
Particularly when the connection with the server is slow, a
computer will look to the latest page in its internal memory and serve
up that page.

Readers should refresh the page and, if necessary, dump the cache of
their computer, if this problem persists. Readers in Costa Rica have
this problem frequently because the local Internet provider has
continual problems.

Searching

The A.M. Costa Rica search page
has a list of all previous editions by date and a space to search for
specific words and phrases. The search will return links to archived
pages.

Newspages

A typical edition will consist of a front page and four
other
newspages. Each of
these pages can be reached by links near the top and bottom of the
pages.

A.M. Costa Rica makes its monthly statistics available
to advertisers
and readers. It is HERE!

Contacting usBoth the main telephone number and the editor's e-mail
address are
listed on the front
page near the date.

Visiting us

Directions to our office and other data, like bank
account numbers are
on the about
us page.

Japan's whaling fleet
believed ready to start hunt

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Japan's whaling fleet is expected to begin soon its annual whale
harvest in the Southern Ocean. Tokyo has yet to confirm when the ships
involved in the controversial program will depart, or even where they
will sail from. Some environmentalists groups say they are preparing to
harass the whaling fleet.

Reports suggest that Japan's whaling fleet is preparing to leave port to commence its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean.

Details of the whalers' plans have not been made public, such are the
sensitivities of the controversial expedition in the icy waters near
Antarctica.

Tokyo has insisted that its whaling program is undertaken for
scientific reasons and that the catch provides crucial data on the
giant mammals.

Wildlife campaigners argue that such activities are meant to hide
illegal commercial whaling, which was outlawed by the International
Whaling Commission in 1986.

Environmental group Greenpeace, which has pursued the Japanese vessels
in recent seasons, is keeping its ship at home this year, preferring
instead to focus its campaigning efforts in Japan. However, the radical
Sea Shepherd group is planning to again confront the whalers, forcing
the Australian Government to call for restraint.

Greenpeace activist, Frode Pleym, believes that efforts to force Japan to abandon its annual hunt will be successful.

"It is a program which already is vulnerable and together with that the
consumption is going down in Japan, the international pressure applied
on Japan and now the tactics launched by Greenpeace to win the campaign
in Japan, I feel very confident that we also in Japan will see an end
to whaling and that whaling will be placed where it belongs, in the
past," said Pleym.

Australia has lead international efforts to find diplomatic ways to force the Japanese to end its annual hunt.

Canberra has repeatedly called Japan's whaling activities an "unnecessary slaughter."

Fisheries officials in Tokyo have said that the fleet has set a target
of 850 minke and 50 fin whales during this year's expedition in the
Southern Ocean.

The World Wildlife Fund says seven of the 13 great whale species are
classified as endangered or vulnerable, including the fin whales.

Last year, Japan retreated on a plan to hunt endangered humpback whales after international protests.

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